


Kerátion: The Outcasts

by Neko_ryn



Series: Kerátion [1]
Category: K-pop, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: ? I guess?, Angst, Attempted Murder, Crime Fighting, Drug Dealing, I don't know what else to add, Implied/Referenced Terrorism, Kidnapping, M/M, Multi, Murder, Organized Crime, Past Character Death, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Polyamory, Slow Romance, The tags are wild as is, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-05-26 03:16:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14991584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neko_ryn/pseuds/Neko_ryn
Summary: Most say taking justice into one's own hands isn't the right thing to do, but when those supposed to help you and protect the law have failed, what else is left to do but bring justice by your own hands?They hurt us, turned us into outcasts, but now they'll pay.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The time has finally come, I'm finally putting out this fanfic omg I've literally been working on this for over a year, the idea first came to me when I watched the Boom Boom MV after having watched an episode for the drama Lookout (which I REALLY recommend) and from then on it grew until it became like this. I'm really excited for this fanfic so I hope you all like it as well!

**Tuesday, December 31st, 2019 - 19:38 PM**

The smoke rose up to the sky like a grey giant that kept growing uncontrollably, moving farther away from them but never quite leaving the place. The street had turned into a furnace as the bus burnt slowly in front of dozens of people that had varying expressions of horror, curiosity and confusion; some of them were holding their cellphones up to take pictures and videos all the while murmuring with their mouths covered and frowning like the scene playing in front of them was something terrible, but nonetheless recording everything like it was a fair act. Some others had their cellphones to their ears and where shouting at someone on the other side of the line, probably emergencies or the police, it was difficult to tell since the chaos made it impossible to hear anything.

Chan was not doing any of that. He was just standing in silence in the middle of the crowd, watching the bus burn and illuminate the place with the warm colour of the fire; both his hands were hanging beside him, motionless, one of them holding his cellphone that showed the alert of an unread message from five minutes ago. "I just finished loading the gas tank, I'm on my way."

His eyes slowly diverted from the bus to the motorcycle under it, and his heart skipped a beat just to have it accelerate again, his hand unconsciously clutching his cellphone. Not far away from the destroyed motorcycle was the body of what he hoped was just an unconscious person, completely covered in black clothing and unmovable. Chan tried to walk towards it but was stopped by a couple of men who told him it was dangerous; he shook them off violently and screamed at them, his brain was unable of registering any of this as everything developed slowly in front of his eyes, his heartbeat too loud in his head to hear his own voice.

It didn't take long for the police, the ambulances and the firemen to get to the scene, forcefully moving everyone away of the accident as they tried to control the situation and keep everyone from getting hurt, it was a difficult task. Chan continued his attempts to get to the unconscious person until he saw a couple of paramedics cover him with a blue blanket and then going to help rescue the bus passengers that were somehow still alive through all the fire and chaos. After that he gave up, he dropped to his knees and stayed there in silence, staring at the covered cadaver. He didn't shed a tear.

**21:22 PM**

The firemen finally put out the fire after two hours or so; out of the twenty passengers in the bus only 7 survived the accident with various degrees of injuries, the most serious ones were taken to the hospital immediately, while the cadavers were picked up and stored in a van to keep them away from the public eyes. Families would have to identify them later.

Chan had stayed there the whole time, sitting on the floor and unable to know what to do, his eyes fixated on the destroyed motorcycle under the bus. His cell phone would light up sometimes with messages from his friends who knew he was going to meet someone there that day, asking if he was okay; he didn't reply to any of them.

Slowly, the crowd dispersed and people continued with their lives, ignorant to the suffering of the families and friends who had lost someone today, Chan wished he could be ignorant too. The police questioned some people about the accident, taking detailed notes about the accident, most people agreed on something: there was an external culprit to the crime.

Even Chan had seen it clearly, he knew the fault wasn't on his friend. A dark grey 2018 Hyundai Sonata had closed in on his friend and pushed him in front of the bus, the car had even stayed there for a moment to watch as the accident developed before sprinting off, leaving everyone confused. The versions everyone was telling were somewhat different however, probably due to the shock; some people managed to give numbers of the licence plates and Chan trusted that would be enough to find the real culprit so they could get whatever the corresponding punishment was. Chan trusted the law and believed everything would be solved with justice, he just had to wait.

**22:43 PM**

When Chan got home his mother was sitting in the entrance, waiting for him. She quickly stood up and hugged her son, content with the fact that he had finally arrived home after hearing about the incident through some of his friends. He didn't answer any of the insistent questions his mother made, and simply followed her into the small living room in which they usually spent their spare time together watching TV shows and eating snacks. The room was void of its usual cheerful atmosphere.

"Chan, please tell me what happened... You're worrying me dear." Her voice was high pitched and heavy as she continued to inquire about the situation.

"Mom... Jungwoo is dead... He's gone." He answered in a quiet voice, he felt a lump in his throat that kept him from talking any more. His eyes turned slightly red as he contained the tears, the image of the motorcycle disappearing in front of the bus repeating over and over again. Jungwoo's last message was still unread.

**Wednesday, January 1st, 2020 - 01:19 AM**

Chan laid awake on his bed, staring at the rooftop while thinking. He had skipped dinner and limited himself to taking a shower before heading to bed, his mother didn't object and let him be, knowing how heartbroken he must be. He had not explained to his mother that it had been a clear murder with fatal secondary consequences, he didn't want to worry her more; he was just waiting for the law to fulfil its task so he could let this go. He believed it wouldn't take long.

Lee Jungwoo and him had been best friends since elementary school after going through a huge fight that helped solve their differences; after that they had become inseparable and if you saw one of them then the other was probably close by. The "Lee brothers", as they were known for having the same surname, were a popular match, although not always for good reason; although both of them had good grades and were fairly responsible, they were also mischievous and Jungwoo was often called problematic: he had the habit of smoking and had gotten suspensions more times than Chan could count with his fingers; the only thing that had saved him were his good grades and his irresistible charm. In the end, they were a pair you could hardly hate.

With a sigh, he grabbed his cellphone and browsed through the notifications before unlocking it. He immediately went into the chatting app all of his classmates used and sent them a message telling them he was fine and safe at home before turning off the notifications; he stared at the message alert on Jungwoo's and debated on reading it, but in the end he decided against it and locked his phone again, leaving it on the night stand.

He eventually fell asleep after staring holes into the rooftop for a while, his dreams repeating the accident in the most abstract ways possible.

**7:13 AM**

When Chan woke up it felt like he had only closed his eyes for about five minutes, he had not gotten any rest and his head hurt slightly, but he could deal with that. After sitting up on his bed he grabbed his phone and realized it was already January 1st, with the accident he had completely forgotten to wish his mother a Happy New Year in the traditional Korean way, and he felt like a bad son; although his mother probably understood. He quickly stood up and went to search for his mother, finding her silently cooking the breakfast in the kitchen. He bowed and said the greetings only to have his mother smile fondly at him and tell him to set up the table so they could have breakfast together.

After his father had abandoned them both, Chan and his mother had become really close and shared a lot of moments together, it was fun actually. He always told her everything and trusted her with his life, and now she was the only person he had left. Of course he had a lot of friends, but Jungwoo had always been pretty much the closest person to him other than his mother; the whole situation still seemed unreal to him, even though he had seen it with his own to eyes, but in his head none of it made sense.

As he set up the table, Chan turned on the television which showed a news channel, not paying much attention he left it like that and finished putting the dishes in place, until the news anchor caught his attention.

"Yesterday, an unfortunate accident occurred in which fifteen lives were lost. While driving his motorcycle, student Lee got in the way of the bus and while trying to evade it the bus driver lost control and got out of the road, impacting a nearby construction site and taking student Lee with it. Due to a gas leak the bus caught on fire, which caused the deaths of most of the passengers."

He stopped listening after that, there was a ringing in his ears as he stared at the television in disbelief. His mother looked at him and asked what was wrong but he didn't reply; he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, his heart was suddenly racing and the tip of his ears had become completely red, he was furious. Those were lies, all of it was a complete lie, and yet the woman in the television continued to spew out those words. Chan didn't stay in the kitchen, he stormed back to his room, the little rationality left in him telling him to not explode in front of his mother.

**Friday, January 3rd, 2020 - 18:03 PM**

The taxi driver was silent as he took both Chan and his mother to the city's hospital for the funeral ceremony, after which the body would be cremated, most families did it like that. He wasn't sure he was ready to face his best friend's mother after the accident, since he was the last to see Jungwoo alive, but he had to go nonetheless, their families were basically one. With Chan's father gone and his best friend's father having passed away, both their families had become close and their mothers would even hang out sometimes. They just had to go.

Once they arrived they headed to where the funeral was being held. Chan hesitated before going in; at the far end, in the centre of the wall, were placed a couple of tables with a picture of Jungwoo and floral offerings. Jungwoo's mother stood by the side, she was crying silently as she listened to their condolences; it was hard to see her stand alone like that, having to give a farewell to her own son.

Mother and son both walked up to the small altar and bowed twice, before walking towards the mourning mother and bowing to her; although Chan was simply unable to talk his mother whispered something that had both women crying again in a matter of seconds. The youngest' heart shrunk in his chest and he bit his lower lip to keep himself from losing composure, he didn't feel comfortable in a place so full of people.

Both stayed there the rest of the day, they ate and talked a bit with the others about the deceased. Eventually everyone else left and they joined Jungwoo's mother next to the altar; the three of them stayed in a comfortable silence, having known each other for so many years. It was only then that Chan allowed himself to cry, getting everything he had felt since the accident out, and filling the empty room with quiet sobs.

**Sunday, January 5th, 2020 - 16:27 PM**

Chan had watched the news continuously expecting them to suddenly change their statement about the bus case or to announce new information, after all he trusted that the system would do the right thing. When none of that happened he decided to take that matter in his own hands and paid a visit to the offices of the television network that had been broadcasting the false news.

He was only allowed into the common lobby, since getting into the studios required an employee identification and he clearly didn't work there. He stood there for a moment, unable to decide what to do as a cold, sudden sensation of fear crawled up his back and kept him still; he had gone in there without a plan, guided by an impulsive thought that had been bothering him like a sickness, and now he regretted it.

When he was about to leave the place, convinced that it had not been the best idea, Chan was stopped by a young woman who was wearing a full black suit and had her ID hanging from her neck, it said 'Im Hyesung'.

"Hello, can  I help you with something?" She asked, voice clear and professional, Chan hoped he had imagined the softness in her voice though, since he was not a kid any more.

"Yes... I need to talk to someone but I'm not actually sure who's in charge of that sort of things." He explained, keeping his hands tight against his sides to try to stop them from fiddling around in nervousness.

"Why don't you tell me what the issue is so I can direct you to the correct person?"

Chan doubted for a moment, he didn't feel comfortable talking to just anyone, but since it didn't seem like she was going to change her mind and offer him more options then he might as well just try.

"Well, it's about the bus accident, I think you have some incorrect information about it." It didn't go unnoticed to the youngest how Hyesung visibly tensed before smiling at him, it was not an inviting smile anymore; somehow that made every word spill from his mouth, wanting to explain himself. "He wasn't the one to cause the accident, a man driving a grey Sonata pushed him in front of the bus, everyone saw it, some even saw the plaque numbers! Jungwoo didn't do it."

"Stop right there." She said, noticing how he was getting suddenly excited. "Look, I don't know why you're here, that case was just an accident and your friend just wasn't careful when driving, it's tragic but lying about it won't change anything, okay?" She looked annoyed, suddenly not kind anymore. He was about to deny it again, to insist on his friend's innocence. "I don't want to hear about it anymore, that is the information the police gave to us; we have work to do so stop bothering us."

Hyesung told a guard to get Chan out of the building and then left, completely ignoring his insistent words as he was forcibly dragged out of the place by a tall, male guard that looked at him with what seemed to be a bit of pity.

**18:15 PM**

By the time Chan got to the Police Office Department his anger had subsided into annoyance that burned like a slow flame in his chest, threatening to spark into a fire if anything went wrong again; and his gut was telling him that there was nothing good waiting for him in there.

When he walked into the building he was completely ignored at first; all of the officers and detectives continued with their work and he remained there in silence, wondering who he was supposed to talk to, and what was he really supposed to say. Fortunately, it wasn't him to initiated the first interaction, instead it was a young man from the detective department who stood in front of him and cleared his voice before speaking.

"May I help you?" Chan took a few steps back, he felt wary. It was suspicious enough that the woman at the television network had told him it was the police the ones that had handed down the information.

"Yes... I think there is something wrong with your investigation on the recent bus accident." He stated as clearly as he could, trying to keep his voice from shaking, hoping that he seemed firm and confident. "Lee Jungwoo wasn't the one to cause the accident." As he talked his voice gained volume, and the words started to pour out of his mouth nonstop. "He was murdered, I saw it, everyone that was there did."

The detective looked confused, which also threw Chan off since he was expecting an aggressive response such as the one he had received when asking Hyesung. Instead the young man in front of him frowned slightly and took out a small notebook.

"Do you mind telling me more? I can ask around for you." He was about to start writing when another detective showed up. This one was taller and looked older too.

"What is going on here?" His presence felt intimidating and Chan immediately walked two steps back, creating some distance between them.

"He's asking about the bus accident, it seems he has really interesting information about it and I thought I'll help." The youngest detective explained, putting his notebook down.

"That case is closed kid, leave it alone. It was only an accident so I don't know why you're getting all excited about it." The man that had just joined them huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Because it wasn't an accident! I saw it, some weird guy pushed him in front of the bus!" He yelled, his face completely red from the blood rushing in his veins.

"Look, it was an accident, even testified as such, your whining won't bring him back to life so shut it up and go study or something, get out of here."

And like that, he got pulled out of the place for the second time in one day.

**19:07 PM**

A young man stood under the traffic light on the corner of the avenue, his right ear leaning against the black cellphone he held with relaxed hands.

"Yes, I've been following him the whole day, he just got pulled out from the police station." He explained with a soft voice, a smirk appearing in his lips as he observed the young man yelling at the doors of the station.

"I think it'll be easy for us to get this one to join us, make sure to catch his attention, he'll be important if we want to prove how rotten the system really is." Said the voice in the other side of the line, he sounded serious but the young man knew he was nervous.

"Sure leader! When have I failed you?" He replied with a laugh.

"Good. And Jeonghan...?"

"Yes?" As his target started moving away from the police station, Jeonghan started following him once again.

"Stop calling me leader, I have a name, and we're the same age." He chuckled, they always had that discussion.

"Sure." He smiled. "Seungcheol."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Who are you two?" He inquired after a moment of silence. "Why do you know my name?"
> 
> "We're just like you, people who seek revenge... And we're here to offer you that opportunity, so come with us." Wonwoo spoke for the first time after the bizarre situation they had just gone through.
> 
> They let go of the youngest and started walking out of the alley. Unsurprisingly enough, Chan followed them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back with the second chapter of Kerátion, there's not much to say but I hope you enjoy the chapter!!

**Wednesday, January 8th, 2020 - 08:14 AM**

"Morning guys!" Jeonghan said with a cheerful tone as he walked into their not-so-secret base. It was really early and he had probably slept less than five hours, but he still looked fresh and happy as ever.

"Jeonghan-hyung, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be following that kid?" In one of the corners of the room, sitting in front of a bunch of screens and among a pile of coffee styrofoam cups was a young, short man, who looked nothing close to fresh or happy.

"Our cute Jihoon, when you act like that you're like fifty percent less cute."

"I am not cute." Jihoon huffed, turning back to look at all his screens.

"Is Mingyu here? I came to get my earpiece, he was supposed to finish fixing it today." Jeonghan explained calmly after a moment of silence, looking around, the place was pretty much empty aside from them.

"He's at the back." His friend signalled with a finger pointing towards a door in the other side of the room.

"Thanks, see you later Jihoonie." The oldest with an annoying voice, chuckling at the soft complains that followed him into the other room.

Said room was a small workshop located at the back of their base; at first it had been just an improvised place for the tallest of the group so he could work in his gadgets and fix the ones the rest of the team would, sometimes, carelessly break, but then it had turned into a full-time workshop and now they also fixed stuff for other people outside of their group, in exchange of money, of course. As expected, Mingyu was there, sitting on a chair while he worked on something that Jeonghan had no idea what it was; he would probably learn soon when the tallest excitedly told the group about the project he had just finished. In the meantime, he was content with just getting his earpiece back. 

"Hi Mingyu." Jeonghan said with a cheerful tone, gently placing his hand on the taller man's shoulder.

"Hey hyung!" Said man bumped his head slightly against the oldest's hand and stopped working for a moment. "Are you here for your earpiece? Let me go get it." He stood up, stretched a little and then walked towards another table that was even fuller of stuff than the first one. No questions were asked. "Here it is." Mingyu said with a triumphant smile as he finally managed to find the earpiece among all of his little trinkets. "I actually finished repairing it a few hours ago, so it's just like new." He announced with a proud smile, handing it over to Jeonghan, who put it in his ear before turning it on, the voices of the other members suddenly flooding his head.

"Yeah, I can see it works just fine." He turns it off again, smiling. "Great job! Does it mean you haven't slept at all though?" He tilted his head, worried about the younger one's health.

"Don't worry, I slept a few hours. It's just, you know, I have a lot of work." He shrugged, minimizing the issue.

"Yeah... don't we all...?" His answer was accompanied by a sigh.

**11:42 AM**

Chan looked at the wall clock intensely, he had stopped paying attention to the professor like twenty minutes ago, he wasn't all that interested in class, which was unusual due to the reputation he had of being a good student. No one could blame him though, barely a week had passed since Jungwoo's death, what else could you expect from someone who had just lost his lifelong friend? It was basically a miracle that he still managed to deliver his assignments in time, although he had indeed become a lot more difficult to approach; and to those who had had the misfortune of whispering rumours about the accident close to him, he had even turned violent, something that would have been virtually impossible in the past.

Fortunately this was going to be the last class for a few hours, so he was planning to leave the college and go clear his mind somewhere away from the rest of his classmates, he was just that tired of them. Fifteen minutes went by slowly before the professor said the class was over and left the classroom; the once empty classroom filled with noise from the students gathering in their small, exclusive groups to talk about the class, the homework and other topics that had nothing to do with that. Chan, however, immediately stood up and exited the classroom; he decided his best option was to go eat lunch somewhere closer to home so he could evade the other students, therefore he walked to the bus station and boarded without thinking twice, oblivious to the fact he was being followed.

Jeonghan cursed when he saw his target get into the bus, and had to run in order to stop it and get on so he wouldn't lose the kid. He pushed his hair back with a huff and mentally made a note to get his vengeance for having to put in more effort than necessary, but for that to happen he was going to have to convince Chan of joining their group. Although, having seen him almost murder a couple of other college students for talking bad about his deceased friend, he didn't doubt the answer would be an almost immediate yes, specially since every other authority figure had denied him the help he needed. They were the only chance he had to make things right.

Discreetly, he pressed on his earpiece to turn it on and was immediately received Jisoo's soft voice.

"You're doing great, you're going to invite him today right?" His friend asked, Jeonghan could tell he was smiling just by the tone. "If you don't do it soon I'll reassign the case to Seungkwan." Jisoo said in a teasing voice, getting another huff out of his same-age friend, he didn't deserve this after all his hard work.

"Shut up, I already said I'm inviting him today, stop annoying me." He whispered in a rush, trying to look as casual as possible. "How can you even see if I'm doing great?"

"I'm next to Jihoon right now, and you have the camera on your badge on so..." The youngest of the three made his presence known with a quiet 'hi' before going silent again and letting them talk. "Anyway, just make sure to get him here today." 

Things went silent as Jisoo turned his earpiece off and Jeonghan sighed, his friend was always rushing them with the missions and it sometimes bugged him, since the American man never went out of their base he couldn't know how difficult it was to follow someone around without rest and gathering information, but at the same time he couldn't blame him, time was indeed something very valuable in their mission, so they couldn't waste it.

**12:27 PM**

Chan had been staring outside the window for the whole trip, only getting out of his deep thoughts right before it was time for him to get off the bus. He took a deep breath before getting up of his seat and then off of the bus as they reached the next bus stop; he was around fifteen minutes away of home by bus, but there was a small, homely restaurant close by that he liked to visit frequently. After his father had abandoned both him and his mother, Chan's mother had gotten a full time job and so the young one hated to go home to eat on his own, that's why he started frequenting the small business of an old lady named Choi Misun, which had become sort of his second home, since he spent so much time there. 

Jeonghan got off a few meters away, earning himself an annoyed look from the driver which he dismissed with a playful smile before jumping down the steps. He followed his target from a good distance and made sure to inform the guys he was, indeed, carrying out his mission. Chan entered the place and Jeonghan followed after a few minutes, sitting a few places across from him and observing him carefully; he didn't really want to order anything, but he guessed it would be weird to have such a good looking man just sitting in silence while observing another man, so he ended up telling the waitress to bring him whatever she thought was the best thing in the menu.

"Jeonghan-hyung, we all know you're really gay so please stop flirting with the waitress, it's gross." Seungkwan's bratty voice invaded his ears and the older's lips formed a thin line, a slight frown appearing on his forehead as he heard Jihoon's muffled chuckle.

"You two are dead when I get back, it's a promise." He said in a hushed way, trying to control his indignation since he was supposed to be in an undercover mission. He couldn't just lose it there.

"Totally worth it." Was the last thing the second youngest of their team said before disconnecting. Jeonghan was definitely going to kill the brat this time, it didn't matter if they were in the same team anymore.

The meal went on in silence, he would occasionally glance up at Chan from his place, trying to eat at the same pace so he wouldn't be left behind in case he decided to leave. At some point an older woman joined him in the table and they talked for a short time, before the youngest stood up and left without paying. Jeonghan huffed and quickly asked for the receipt, he then paid at the counter and left in a hurry, but he couldn't find his target anywhere.

"Jihoon, I can't see him, where is he?" He asked to his earpiece, looking around to try and spot the child.

"Give me a minute." He heard te faint sound of a keyboard being pressed quickly before the younger one spoke again. "He just crossed the street and took a bus, don't worry, he's going back to school, you'll be able to find him there."

"Trustworthy as always, thanks Jihoon!" Jeonghan approached the zebra-walk and waited for the street light to change again.

"Thanks, can't say the same about hyung, can't believe you just lost him like that." He didn't feel surprised about hearing that response.

"I honestly hope you enjoy your death sentence with Seungkwan."

"Worth it."

**19:17 PM**

Following someone who goes to class was, admittedly, the most boring thing ever. Jeonghan had had to do it a lot since sometimes parents would request their services to follow their kids to see if they were getting in problems, so standing outside of a school just observing had become almost a norm already, and it was extremely boring. That's why, when Chan finally came out of college, he felt extremely blessed. 

Something wasn't right though. Instead of immediately taking the bus home like always, Chan continued walking, following a group of three guys who were at his college. He knew better than to do that, but he was just so tired and angry of hearing people bash his deceased friend that he just wasn't thinking straight anymore. He wasn't that good of a fighter and four against one was obviously not a good idea, but he was more than willing to jump into the wolf's mouth if it meant he had a chance to relieve everything he has been feeling up until then.

"Jihoon, send someone to my location, I think this kid is about to try and murder someone." Was Jeonghan exaggerating? Maybe, both those eyes spoke of anything but sanity, and he knew better than to leave a situation like that unattended.

"I'm on my way hyung, don't get in danger." A lower, sort of husky voice answered him.

"Ha, Jeon Wonwoo, don't be so cocky and get here fast, I'm already following them." And he was; fortunately, waiting for the street light to change hadn't been enough for him to lose the four young men, so he just followed from a safe distance.

When they disappeared into an alley, Jeonghan looked back nervously, he wasn't a weak person but he didn't like to fight at all, except in this situation he just couldn't wait for Wonwoo to get there. After reassuring himself he went into the alley, one of the boys was standing while the other two struggled with Chan on the floor, he was, admittedly, a difficult person to deal with, even if he didn't look strong or wasn't tall.

The youngest looked furious, his right cheek was bruised and his lips cut, but he wasn't the only one like that, the other two boys trying to hold him down looked equally battered up. When the third one was about to join, Jeonghan grabbed him from the back of his collar and pulled him against the wall of the alley, getting him by surprise; with his hand against the wall and his body close to the other, he tried to push the repulsive feeling deep into his mind and focus on the distracting the one who seemed to be the leader, thankfully, his exquisite features seemed to confuse him enough.

"What are you doing? You don't want to ruin that pretty face by joining the fight, right?" He whispered in a soft, silent voice.

Just then, someone ran behind him and with a strong kick to his middle got one of the boys off of Chan; the youngest used that opportunity to get on top of the other assailant and started hitting him repeatedly on the face, while Wonwoo dealt with the other guy efficiently. 

"Well... Time to go." The oldest of the three whispered and kicked the guy he had against the wall on his crotch before hitting his head against said wall. "Seriously..." Wonwoo finished his work too and helped Jeonghan peel Chan off of the now unconscious boy. 

"Lee Chan, please calm down already, you're going to kill him if you continue doing this." The words seemed to have some effect on him, as he stopped struggling and stayed still between their arms.

"Who are you two?" He inquired after a moment of silence. "Why do you know my name?"

"We're just like you, people who seek revenge... And we're here to offer you that opportunity, so come with us." Wonwoo spoke for the first time after the bizarre situation they had just gone through. 

They let go of the youngest and started walking out of the alley. Unsurprisingly enough, Chan followed them.

**21:09 PM**

"Could you please stop moving? I can't take care of your injuries like that." Jisoo asked with a neutral tone and soft voice, staring at Chan and waiting for him to look back at him, for a sign that would show he'll be obedient.

"Sorry..." He mumbled, and tried to keep his head from moving around in an attempt to swallow as much as he could from the scene.

The old building had apparently been some sort of restaurant, judging from the wide kitchen at the very back of the room, and the separations for the tables that were still standing. He couldn't really understand what was going on at the moment, but he had been promised an opportunity of revenge and he was willing to listen to them.

What made him uncomfortable though, was the eleven pair of eyes staring at him with different grades of curiosity and uncertainty, which was only interrupted by the arrival of a twelfth person who seemed to gather everyone's attention even more than himself.

"Hey guys, I'm back. Woah everyone is actually here, what's going on?" Seungcheol asked in a surprised tone, making his way into the center of the room.

"Jeonghan-hyung actually managed to bring the kid, I guess Jisoo-hyung's menace was effective." Jihoon answered from his place at the corner of the room. 

"I am not a kid." Chan mumbled in a higher volume than he pretended. Everyone stood in silence for a moment before Jeonghan interfered.

"Lee Chan, born on February 11, 1999, 20 years old." 

"Oh, he's younger than us!" Someone exclaimed from the back.

"Not the time, Hansol." Another person whispered beside him and silence was made again.

"Why do you know all that? How?" Chan asked, suddenly not so sure following two complete strangers had been a good idea.

"Case: His best friend was murdered and the process caused a bus to suffer major damage and several people died. His deceased friend was then accused of causing the incident." Jeonghan continued, not paying attention to the questions.

"So we have a hit and run with incrimination, this will be a difficult one." Jisoo said, he had already finished patching Chan up, and was just sitting next to him.

"Can someone please answer my questions?!" He yelled, standing up and looking at the person who stood at the center.

"This is Kération, on the outside a private detective agency that solves minor cases given out by clients. Inside we're different, we're like you: victims abandoned by the justice system we used to believe in." Everyone looked away, in silence. "I'm their leader, Choi Seungcheol, and we want you to join us."

"Why?"

"We're all like you, searching for justice, so we want to offer you the chance of making things right. I'm not going to lie: we have a strong suspicion your case might be related to ours in some degree, so we need you." He explained, calmly. "Jeonghan has been tailing you for days now, that's why we know so much about you, but it was all for this sole reason."

"I am not sure this is a good idea." Chan whispered, suddenly losing the anger that had been powering him until then.

"Some of us thought like that at first too... How about this? Solve a case with us, see us work... And then decide if you want to join us." He proposed, walking towards him. "What do you think?"

Chan stayed in silence for a moment, he looked around at the other people in the room; it was hard to think they were all similar to him, but at the same time he could see something familiar in their eyes, a hunger he had seen reflected in the mirror we he had gone to the broadcasting station; he made a decision.

"I'll do it."

Seungcheol grinned.

"Great, let's get to work then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment if you liked the chapter and to talk/yell at me on my Tumblr @not-majestic-bluenicorn.tumblr.com and on my Twitter @soft_bluenicorn!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chan stared at the text message on his cellphone, it was from his mother, asking if he was going to get home late or if he was planning to stay out that night, almost pleading him to be safe. He felt guilty for worrying his mother so much, every time he thought about it he felt like maybe he should give it up and leave; but every time it clashed with the memories of ember flames and the nightmares that encountered him every night ever since the accident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I am back somehow! Last week was honestly really awful, a lot of things happened in my country and in my personal life so I needed some time off, but I am back with (I hope) more constant updates. Hope you enjoy!

**Friday, January 10th, 2020 - 12:05 PM**

Chan stared at his cellphone with uncertainty, he had a chatting app open and there was a simple sentence showing under the name Choi Seungcheol: "Come to the office when you finish class." Class had finished five minutes ago but he was still not moving from his seat. 

He couldn't stop thinking about the events from two days ago, it seemed so bizarre for him how an organization like that could just exist at all. But at the same time he could understand it, after all he too wanted to take revenge so badly; but putting everything into perspective, it just seemed like a crazy idea, plus he never actually thought he would even get an opportunity like that.

When he had gotten home after meeting the people that had been following for days, his mother didn't ask any questions and just let him go to sleep. She knew there was something going on, but she also knew Chan would tell her when he was ready, after all he was old enough to have some control over his life.

With a sigh he stood up, picked up his stuff and walked out of the classroom; even though he heard the usual chatter he didn't feel violent or aggressive towards the other college students, probably because he had a lot going on in his mind. He excited the college building and had just started walking towards the bus stop when someone called his name and he turned around.

Leaning against a motorcycle was the same person that had helped him fight off the guys that had been insulting Jungwoo two days ago. His black clothes made him look even paler and Chan wondered for a moment if maybe he was feeling sick, but he discarded that thought because no one in their five senses would drive a motorcycle while feeling sick. He approached the man, whose name was Wonwoo if he remembered correctly, and stood in front of him awkwardly.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, trying to keep his voice from sounding too harsh, he still didn't trust them that much.

"I was told to pick you up, get on." The older man said in a neutral tone, although his voice felt cold due to his expressionless face, which just made Chan not want to ride with him at all.

"I can just get there by myself..." He retaliated, frowning.

"Yeah but it's quicker this way." Wonwoo passed him a helmet and got on the vehicle, waiting for the other to do the same. "Get on."

They stared at each other until Chan gave up with a huff and got on the motorcycle, there was no use in wasting time after all. It wasn't a surprise to him when he felt his heart clench inside his chest with awful sorrow.

**12:32 PM**

Wonwoo waited for Chan to get off first and then followed him suit into the old building. The first thing they noticed was that the corner where Woozi had all of his equipment was covered by a curtain that went from roof to floor; the second thing was that at least half of the team was reunited at the center of the room.

There they saw a middle aged man with a distraught expression in his face sitting on one of the sofas, while Jisoo sat in front of him with a face that said nothing to any of them. However, he smiled gently when he saw the newcomers and asked them to join them quickly.

"Well, Mr. Kim, now that everyone is here can you please explain the situation? Try to mention even the smallest details you can remember, it'll help us with the investigation." The oldest said in a warm and collected tone; the spoken words suddenly made the situation crystal clear to Chan, and he too paid careful attention to what the man had to say.

"Yes... Well, I'm the owner of a small business in charge of selling vehicle parts for the latest models. Even though we're small we do good because we work fast and always with good results." He explains, taking a deep breath and nervously rubbing his hands together. "But these days some of the parts have been disappearing and I can't even trust the data about the stock. I've come to the conclusion one of my workers is stealing because there's no way someone from outside can just evade the security like that." His face turns red with frustration, and at Jisoo's signal, Mingyu refills the man's glass of water. "So, I want to ask you to investigate my workers;  I tried going with the police but they won't help me because I apparently don't have enough proof, so I'm asking for your help." Once done talked, he downs the whole glass of water.

"So it is a robbery case with a high possibility of being a serial one. Did you bring information on your employees?" Jisoo asked, leaning back on the sofa. With all the people around him he almost looked like a gang boss of sorts.

"Yes, I brought their curriculum and some extra pictures." The man picked up a folder that was next to him and passed it out to the oldest, who immediately gave it to Jihoon.

"Well, Mr. Kim, this will be enough for us to start. We will keep you updated and I assure you that as soon as our work is done the police won't be able to ignore you, since it'll be so blatantly obvious." Jisoo's smile was gentle, although there was nothing gentle about his words. "Mingyu, please lead our guest to the exit." The tallest of them nodded and guided the man out of the place.

As soon as this was done the atmosphere visibly changed, the members started to chatter and Jihoon uncovered his corner with a huff. Chan looked around in confusion, unable to understand what was actually going on.

"Hyung, one of these days people will accuse us of being a gang if you keep acting like that when meeting clients." Hansol whined, sitting next to Jisoo who just laughed in return.

"Who's getting the case this time?" Seungkwan asked, sitting on the armrest next to Hansol. 

"Well, since it's a simple case I'll let the five youngest take care of it, the others aren't here anyway." The oldest shrugged.

"That makes us Myeongho, Seungkwan, Hansol, Chan and me right?" Mingyu asked from where he was standing behind the sofa.

"Pretty much, that way you'll be able to teach our new recruit how we do things." His make was slightly mocking, like he found the whole situation really funny. "Right, since Seokmin and Junhui aren't here, can you please give him his equipment Mingyu?"

"Of course, Chan, follow me." Despite his height and big build that made him somewhat scary, the tallest had a kind smile and a cheerful personality.

He guided Chan to another room that was full of clothing and a lot of different equipment that could be used to disguise someone, he guessed that was mostly the reason he was being taken there. Mingyu moved around the room, it was a lot more organized than his workshop so finding the stuff he needed was easy. In a matter of minutes, the oldest of the two had gathered a small pile of stuff that included an earpiece, a small bunch of cameras, a GPS tracker, and even a set of tools to open locks, among other things.

"I honestly doubt we'll be using all of these in your first mission, but we all carry them just in case. It's useful to wear things like jackets and clothes with pockets so you can carry them all." Mingyu pointed to his own coat, and let Chan pick everything up and put it away into his pockets, cold weather was indeed an advantage in situations like this one.

"Thank you." The youngest said once he had finished, the atmosphere turning a bit uncomfortable and silent.

"Well, let's go back, we have a lot of work to do." Mingyu guided him back to the main room, none of them said anything else.

**Saturday, January 11, 2020 - 11:25 AM**

Chan thought dressing up for a simple visit to a store like this one was really stupid, but everyone insisted that it was necessary so he decided to go with it.  Apparently he and Mingyu were going to pretend to be brothers who were looking for some parts and accessories for the youngest's car; once there, they were supposed to get as much information as possible. They had divided the tasks and in the end the oldest was to distract everyone so Chan could place cameras and whatnot on blind spots after having Minghao hack their security system because other than the curriculum, they had not been given anything.

The interior of the store was simple. The first room had a desk with a computer and the CCTV system, as well as some chairs so the clients could sit down if they were waiting for something, at the end of the room was a door that lead to the storage with all of the car parts and accessories; both of them noted it had a better security system than the main door. A slender and tall girl welcomed them both in the front desk, the greeting was fairly typical but enough for them to get into their roles.

"Good morning, how may I help you?" She inquired, standing up to greet them before sitting once again.

"Hello, my brother and I came looking for some advice and car parts." Mingyu said nonchalantly, passing an arm around Chan's shoulders, it was a bit difficult for the youngest to not break character as he was still unused to the rest of the team. "The car is actually his but he doesn't really know anything about cars, so I decided to give him a little help." The oldest's lips turned into a smirk as he let go of his 'younger brother' and leaned against the desk. Both of them heard the sound of gagging coming from the earpieces and for a moment, it was really hard to not laugh.

The woman looked at Mingyu and blushed a little, he was indeed a very handsome man and it was not a very common sight in the store.

"May I know the model?" She asked after a moment, remembering she was still at work.

"Of course, it's a 2019 Mazda RX-9. A friend of us recommended this store since you work with the newest models, so we came here." He explained, although his words had nothing to them, his smile and eyes were very flirty, and it almost made Chan want to pull his own eyes out.

"We do indeed, is there anything specific you would like to see so I can bring the parts to the front?"

"Bring them? Can't we look at them together? I think it would be too much work for you and I don't want to inconvenience you." Mingyu leaned closer to her when doubt showed in her eyes, and tilted his head slightly. "Please?"

"Oh, right... Yes, of course. Follow me please." She stood up from her place behind the desk and guided Mingyu, who gave a thumbs up to Chan, to the back of the store, completely forgetting about the youngest.

With both of them gone, it was Chan's turn to start working; he walked to the back of the desk and sat in front of the computer, pulling out a USB and plugging it in, inside there was a simple virus that would give Minghao access to all of the files. He ran the program containing it and waited, meanwhile looking around.

"I can't believe Mingyu-hyung can act like that without losing his composure, it's pretty amazing." He said after a while, remembering he was actually able to communicate with the others.

"I think it's really stupid, but he is indeed very good looking so it plays in his favour." The Chinese man replied from his place inside he van they had used to get to the store. "The one who's really good at acting things out is Jeonghan-hyung though, Seungkwan is good too but sometimes he exaggerates too much."

"I can hear you hyung!" The third youngest yelled through their earpieces, obviously displeased by the comment. "I am the best quality, how can you say that of me?"

"Right, anyway, are you in yet Myeongho-hyung?" Chan asked, completely ignoring the complains from his hyung and focusing on his task.

"Yes, plug the USB out and go get Mingyu-hyung." He directed and like that the tasks were carried out. Around fifteen minutes later, they were all out of the place and on their way to the base.

**13:09 PM**

When they return to their workplace, Chan can't help but realize the scene is slowly becoming familiar to him; he hasn't really interacted with all of them, yet seeing them moving so naturally around the place, talking to each other and working together, he knows he can get used to it. And for a moment, that thought scares him, he thinks of his mother and of Jungwoo and wonders how they would feel if they knew; but then he remembers the ember lights that kissed the night sky the day he died and confusion settles on his stomach.

"Lee Chan! Are you listening?" A high-pitched voice snaps him out of his thoughts and suddenly Seungkwan is too close for it to be comfortable, so he steps back. "Seriously, everyone here is so rude, why is it that when I'm the one talking no one pays attention?"

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" The youngest intervened before Seungkwan could ramble any longer, not really in the mood to get into a discussion.

"I'm going to start working at the store on Monday so I can get a better look at things, it'll probably be fun! It was very easy to convince our client of letting me do it so on Monday you can see me go in action!" The fact that the older one seemed so hyped about the mission made the youngest smile ever so slightly, he had never imagined there would be someone like Seungkwan among a group like Kération, but somehow it seemed fitting.

"Well then I'll be expecting a lot from you hyung, can't wait to see you in action."

"Seungkwan, Chan, come over here." Mingyu, pretty much the leader of the mission since he was the oldest of the five, called from his place beside Jihoon and Minghao, telling them with his hand to hurry up. "You too Vernon." The second youngest stood from his place on one of the couches and joined them quickly. "Okay, Jihoon-hyung, could you repeat what you told me just now?"

"Yes." Jihoon turned back at the screens and started pointing at some files. "These are the recordings from the cameras, there's time lapses in which they haven't recorded anything but then continue recording as normal, this means they've been turned off. It could have been something like a blackout, or maintenance, but it happens far too often and there's a slight pattern sometimes, so it's quite possible it's deliberate." He then moved to other screens. "This is what the cameras are recording right now, as you can see they're fixed cameras, and they're not accommodated to show the whole room, so we either need to put them back in place or install secret cameras."

"Well... It's a good thing Seungkwan will start working there on Monday right? There's a lot of work to do." Hansol said with a smirk while everyone else processed the information in silence, patting his friend on the shoulder.

"Shut up Choi Hansol." The slightly older male answered immediately, a pout already appearing on his face. "I'm going to do a great job and you won't be able to mock me".

"Anyway." Mingyu was quick to interrupt their discussion. "The real work starts this Monday, we're aiming to get the necessary proof in less than a week so we must work hard, understood?"

All of them nodded, and nothing else was said, it was time to get to work.

**18:23 PM**

Chan stared at the text message on his cellphone, it was from his mother, asking if he was going to get home late or if he was planning to stay out that night, almost pleading him to be safe. He felt guilty for worrying his mother so much, every time he thought about it he felt like maybe he should give it up and leave; but every time it clashed with the memories of ember flames and the nightmares that encountered him every night ever since the accident.

"It's a tough choice isn't it?" A soft, silent voice asked as a person sat beside him, a quick look revealed it was no other than Jisoo, who seemed gentle and kind, completely opposite to what he had looked like when the client had been in the same room as them.

"What do you mean?" The youngest asked, still feeling somewhat wary in his presence.

"Joining us or giving up, being here or returning home, it must be a tough choice." Jisoo explained calmly, gifting a small, calming smile to Chan.

"Oh... Yeah, it kinda is." He agreed, blocking his phone and putting it aside. "How did you all decide to join this team? Wasn't it hard for you too?" Jisoo meditated in silence for a moment, the answer felt complex but he wanted to reassure Chan as much as possible.

"Well, to some of us it was, to some it wasn't, it really depends on who you ask. But in the end, whether we struggled or not, we were brought together by the same desire to make things right, and I think that's what matters in the end." The oldest explained once he came to terms with the words he wished to say.

"What about you hyung? Did you struggle?" Chan asked, not wanting to end the conversation just yet, not satisfied with the answer.

"Well... Not really, I didn't." Jisoo stood up, ready to leave. "After all, I didn't have a place to return to, so it's understandable you hesitate." He pointed to the Chan's cellphone and smiled once again. "If you feel like you'd rather return than do this then it's fine, go ahead, but we would really appreciate your help, after all, aren't we the same?"

With that, Jisoo left Chan to his thoughts, after all the decision was his and influencing him any further would just harm him. Chan understood that too, he understood the words of the oldest and felt sorry for him, felt sorry for everyone there, including himself. He sighed.

"I wish choosing wasn't that hard."


	4. Very Important Announcement (Seriously, please read)

So, as some of you might know from talking to me or the replies in your comments, I’ve been having a somewhat hard time personally because a lot of things have happened since the start of July, both in my country and in my personal life. Don’t worry, I am not writing this to tell you I’ll stop updating all my stories, but there  _ has _  been a change in my schedule and since I’ll start college soon I figured it would be best to make things clear right now.

First of all, I  _ am _  going to cancel one my stories, that is Lost in the dream, a MONSTA X fanfic I started over a month ago but have not updated since. There’s a very simple reason: it’s terrible, mediocre. I love the idea and it was one of the fics I was the most excited to write but in the end, no matter how hard I try, I hate the first chapter and haven’t been able to continue writing the rest of the fic. Because of this, I will eliminate the story of my ao3, try to fix it and come back with it at a later time.

The second, and the most important thing out of it all: I am changing the schedule for the other fanfics. I don’t know why I thought I could bear the stress and responsibility of writing five different stories a week, it clearly did not work, but because I don’t want to suspend some in favor of others I’ve come up with a schedule. One week I’ll update two stories and the next one I’ll update the other two, and so on; I will always update on Wednesdays and Fridays.

I believe this will allow me to write better, it will give me more time to edit (you might have noticed but I don’t really edit my stories because I always finish writing the chapters the day I’m supposed to post them) and therefore will also give better quality to the chapters. You all have been showing a lot of love to my stories and deserve nothing but quality writing from me to enjoy the trip; I do apologize for my lame attempt at being a responsible writer.

I am writing this on a very sunny Saturday, July 28, so I will be starting with this new schedule by next week with Reflection on Wednesday and In the pits of hell on Friday. I hope you can understand my decision to do this and that you will continue to enjoy whichever of my stories it is that you enjoy.

Thank you a lot for all the lovely comments you have left in my stories as well, they do truly motivate me to continue writing, it’s just that life is a bit unfair at times and I’m terrible at dealing with that.

Thanks for reading this very important notice, have a nice day ^^


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Did you know?” Seungcheol asked while leaning softly on the carob tree that grew on the back of their base.“ Kerátion means carob seed.
> 
> Chan looked at him and then at the tree without understanding, he watched as the older man grabbed one of the vines full of seeds and opened it up.
> 
> "These seeds were used to weight gems and jewels in the past; they are the origin of the carat.” He explained, dropping all of the seeds except one. He pulled out a lighter. “If you burn them…” He kneeled down and lighted the seed, placing it on the floor and watching it burn very slowly. “They’ll still be strong and able to germinate.” He put the fire out and stood up. “Just like us.”
> 
> Chan looked at the burnt seed and made a decision, he took Seungcheol’s hand and they entered the house together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back!!! Good lord it's been a long time since I last updated this fic and I'm very sorry about that, I just started third semester in college plus part time work and I barely have free time to myself, plus I don't have a laptop at school so writing is kinda hard even if I do have a share of free time, however I'm glad to anounce I finally finished this! I'm not going to stop writing any of my fics, it might just take a little longer to update, but you can be certain I'll see these stories to their end. Anyways, enjoy!

**Monday, January 13, 2020 - 07:00 AM**

Seungkwan followed the owner in complete silence, even though he had convinced the client of doing this, he could feel the older man wasn't completely convinced about letting the private detectives actually mess with his store; however, the arguments they had given him had been quite strong and he had ended up accepting one of the youngest in his business.

They had all promised that there would be no problems or accidents, and that promise had made Seungkwan extra nervous. He wasn't one to mess up often, if ever, but the fact that he also felt the need to impress Chan was adding to the pressure; he wasn't one to complain about it though, so with his lips closed tightly he followed his client into the store and waited patiently for introductions.

Aside from the uniform, he was wearing a special earpiece that looked like a hearing aid so he could wear it at work without looking suspicious. He was also carrying with a bunch of small cameras that would be placed to record on places normal cameras couldn't reach or for when they were out of use. He had also spent the whole weekend patiently studying everything possible about cars and the business he was dealing with. He felt prepared.

As soon as they walked into the store, the young woman sitting on the reception desk stood up and did a slight bow towards her boss, directing a curious look at Seungkwan, who tipped his head slightly in return. If he remembered correctly, the name of that girl was Jeong Mina, she was the only woman working in the shop and she only worked part-time due to her studies.

"Good morning." She greeted, keeping her eyes trained on Seungkwan as she tried to figure out what the situation was.

"Good morning Mina, this is Kang Haneul, he's going to work here starting today and I would appreciate it if you could show him around since I need to go now, is that alright?" Mr. Kim said while looking at his watch impatiently, clearly on a rush.

"Of course, have a nice day." Both Mina and Seungkwan bowed as the owner said his goodbyes and left the store, leaving them alone in the room. The girl looked at the newcomer with curiosity and uncertainty, unable to make the first move but also not wanting to leave things like that. "So..." However, Seungkwan caught up immediately and with a smile, he introduced himself.

"Hello, my name is Kang Haneul, I'm 21 years old." He said with a smile, closing his hand in a fist as he heard the rest of the members laughing at the use of the fake name. "I have a bit of a hearing problem and this thing sometimes fails because I haven't gotten a new one, so I apologize if it causes inconveniences." He pointed to the earpiece on his right ear.

"Oh I see, that's alright. My name is Jeong Mina, I'm 25 years old. I'm only working here as a part timer but I hope I can help you get used to the work around here." Just as she spoke, another man walked in through the door in the back. "Oh, look, this is Oh Dohun, he's 27 and works here full time. Oppa, this is Kang Haneul, he's 21 and he's going to work with us from now on."

Seungkwan made a slight bow which was mirrored by Dohun and then everything settled into an uncomfortable silence that was only broken by the oldest of them saying they should return to work, and so they did. It was easy to tell it was going to be a long day.

**10:32 AM**

Although it was his first -and hopefully last- day at work, Seungkwan got used to it very quickly and after demonstrating he was trustworthy he had been tasked with checking the orders they had and calling the owners of the ones that were ready. He approached Mina at the front desk and tapped on her shoulder softly, she turned around and smiled at him.

"Mina, Dohun asked me to check the orders can you give me a quick run through?" He asked as soon as he got her attention.

"Ah, sure! Actually you need the computer, here." She stood and waited until he was seated to start showing him the documents he will need to use and where was the client contact information. "That's basically all you need to know, if you need help with anything else give me a call, I'll go help Dohun-oppa."

Not even a couple of seconds passed after Mina was gone and there was already a voice talking insistently from his earpiece. It was Minghao, who had been watching everything with the others since the start.

"Haneul-ah... I mean, Seungkwan-ah, I need you to do something for me." The older's voice was teasing, it seemed they were having fun without him.

"What is it hyung?" He did his best to not sound as annoyed as he felt, after all he was trying to impress the new youngest with their abilities and teamwork.

"I need to record them actually shutting down the system, the virus in the computer lets me see all their actions but I need to record them using the computer and all that." Minghao explained calmly. "You have to put a camera somewhere behind her so I can get that footage."

"Okay, let me get right to it." Seungkwan looked around to make sure the other two weren't there, then he stood up and grabbed one of the mini cameras Seokmin had helped him hide in his elaborate costume. He turned it on so Minghao could give him directions on where to place it, and proceeded to try to accommodate it on the wall behind. "What about here Myeongho-hyung?"

"A little bit more to your right." The older man directed and Seungkwan followed attentively. "There, perfect. Thank you Kwanie, go on with your work."

"No problem." He sat back down and finally started calling the clients. As he browsed through the documents he stumbled with the inventory lists, which he ended up printing.

He had an idea.

**16:33 PM**

Everything felt excruciatingly boring, Seungkwan was probably the only one having fun -if it could be called that- but the other four were stuck in a van waiting for something, anything that could be a lead so they could go into action.

"Hyung, why are there short intervals between the recordings of the security cameras?" Vernon, sitting next to Chan who was holding a laptop and checking recordings, asked with confusion.

"Intervals?" Minghao repeated, opening the same files in his own laptop and checking them carefully. Just as the second youngest had said, there were short breaks between recordings. "Oh, it must be because the cameras only go on when there's movement, so if no one is in the room they must turn off."

"Oh, I see." There was a moment of silence and then everything clicked. 

"Shit Hansol, you're a genius." Immediately, Minghao started checking the files in his own laptop. They all spend a moment in silence until the second oldest turns his laptop towards them. "Here, look at this. If you look carefully at the files of the different cameras, there are days in which there are pauses of almost half an hour, and always, before those pauses, Dohun enters the restroom and the file in which he leaves is always after the exact time in all those places. However, the camera in the reception is always on because of the third worker, it's the only one that works, not even the one at the entrance and at the back entrance do."

Minghao clicks in one of the files in the reception's camera directory and it shows a woman entering the store, however there's no file of her walking in front of the store before that. Then he shows them another one of Name leaving the reception, but there are no files of him anywhere else.

"Wow hyung, you're a genius." Chan whispers while watching the recordings. "We need to record them stealing the items now."

"I'm on it." Mingyu intervened, pressing his earpiece. "Seungkwan, I assume you heard all that right? Get us some eyes in the storage."

"Will do hyung." Seungkwan's voice came through all of their earpieces. It finally seemed like the case was getting somewhere.

Through the cameras they observed as Seungkwan moved to the storage and offered to do the inventory instead of Dohun; it was probably the eagerness of the newcomer that convinced the oldest of the workers and so Seungkwan was left to do as he pleased.

As he took note of the inventory carefully, since it could be useful for them later on, he went on and placed several cameras on places he considered to be strategic. On their laptops, the new screens appeared progressively as he did, granting them a better view of the place.

"We're set, now we just have to wait for them to make a move." Mingyu said, satisfied. "It's quite possible they'll wait until closing time, so let's wait with them." He grinned, even if they were the youngest, there was no way of denying how well they worked together, and it made the oldest of them proud.

**19:03 PM**

It took awhile for things to get moving again. Seungkwan was aimlessly doing tasks and was starting to get fed up, Vernon was getting sleepy and the other three were just plainly bored at this point. Nobody noticed anything strange when Dohun asked the third youngest to go to the reception and ask Name for some documents. It wasn't until their suspect was moving towards the restroom that Chan pointed it out.

"Hyungs, I think it's about to start." His finger pointed at the screen, that showed Dohun moving into the restroom. Barely seconds after every camera except the reception's one and the ones they had installed turned off. It was happening.

"Vernon, come with me to the back of the store, we need to see who is taking the products. Myeongho and Chan, stay here and pay close attention to the cameras, if you see Seungkwan is in problems tell us." Mingyu gave the directions quickly and immediately snapped into action, opening the door of their minivan and jumping out, followed closely by Vernon. 

Inside the store, Seungkwan felt conflicted knowing everything was happening under his eyes yet he couldn't risk his cover like that, so he stood out in his place pretending to help Name. Through the cameras they installed, Chan and Minghao could see Dohun entering the storage and opening the back door, letting a couple of people in to do the job; Minghao was working on turning the system back on. They couldn't see Mingyu and Vernon, but as long as they didn't see disruption through the cameras everything should be fine.

Meanwhile, said two were making their way to the back of the store; because its facade was smaller than the actual size of the storage and workshop, the trip was a little longer than expected, but they made it eventually. Next to the open back entrance there was a big black truck with its trunk open, there were already some items loaded on it. Without wasting time Vernon started taking pictures while Mingyu stood guard; they couldn't see the faces of the criminals since they were covered, but as long as they could track them down their job was basically done.

"Myeongho-hyung, I'm sending a picture of the license plate and of the car, don't lose sight of it." Vernon  said while sending the pictures. 

As soon as he got them, Minghao opened up the camera network of the city and prepared to follow the truck around. Behind him, Chan observed with curiosity; he had seen Jihoon doing something similar in his small computer lab back at their base, he couldn't help but wonder how they had gotten into a system like that. He knew Minghao was a hacker from what they had done the first time they visited the store, but he wondered how far his abilities went.

"Okay, I'm ready." Minghao said. "Are they leaving now?"

"Yes, it seems they have finished loading the truck, we took pictures of most of the things but it's kinda dark out here so I don't know about the quality." Mingyu was the one to reply. Vernon and him were already on their way back to the van, wanting to avoid being caught.

"It's okay hyungs, I checked the inventory, I can just go check it again now to see what is missing." Seungkwan chimed in with a low voice, as he was still in company of his coworker, although he looked more distracted than anything.

"Well thought Kwanie, you do that. I'm going to start following the truck now." Minghao said, immersing himself in his job.

"Let's get this done." Mingyu's words of support came in through everyone's earpieces, and there was nothing more to be said.

**20:16**

They followed the truck and it led them to a seemingly abandoned garage in the outer parts of the city. To avoid being spotted, they parked a few blocks away and walked the rest by foot; they left Minghao in their van so he could monitor everything from them and wait for Seungkwan to send them the information. Meanwhile, Mingyu, Chan and Hansol went to the garage and scouted the area, trying to determine the best way to get into the garage and collect proof on the theft.

“Okay guys, I’ve sorted out what’s missing from the inventory.” Seungkwan said from his place at the store. “I’ll send it to your phones.”

“Thanks Seungkwan, now we just have to figure out how to get in without getting caught.” Mingyu replied, checking his phone as he felt it buzz in his pocket.

As they moved around the garage, they found a small window on one of the sides. Mingyu peeked into the build and counted the amount of people inside, there were about five or six men in sight, and they were putting the recently stolen objects on a table to examine them. 

“There’s about five people in there, maybe six, it’s a bit dark so I can’t see well.” He informed the others, Hansol sighed.

“There’s too many for us to get involved in a fight.” He added. “Maybe we should call reinforcements?”

“We could do that.” Mingyu agreed.

“I have a better idea, let’s make them leave the garage so we can move in freely.” Chan chimed in, finally feeling useful in this situation. “If we create ruckus outside, loud enough that it attracts their attention, one of us can go in and take the pictures.”

“Oh… That’s certainly a good idea.” Hansol said. “What do you have in mind?”

“Well, we could simulate a fight or…” Chan looked away, spotting the car the thieves had used to take the goods.

“Or…?” Mingyu insisted.

“Mingyu hyung, do you know how to drive?”

**20:42**

Mingyu walked towards the car, double-checking Hansol and Chan were hiding properly before raising the hammer he had gotten from their van and smashing the window on the copilot’s side. The alarm went off and he quickly opened the door and moved towards the driver’s seat, closing behind him and placing the tool box beside him; he needed to act quickly before the thieves came out, so he got out a cordless drill and worked on destroying the keyhole.

He saw as four of the criminals walked out of the garage, so he hurried up before pulling it out and slamming a screwdriver into the keyhole, turning it and successfully turning on the engine. Mingyu drove off barely in time to avoid them from catching him and turned off the alarm, through the rear-view mirror he watched as the thieves got into another, much smaller car and drove behind him. Now everything would depend on the skills of his other teammates.

Hansol and Chan watched the criminals leave and made their way to the entrance of the garage, there was no one around it and so they went inside and closed the door behind them. A quick glance at the room revealed it to be full of expensive car parts and instruments which were probably all stolen; Chan went around one of the pillars and noticed there was still one man there, carefully checking the recently robbed goods.

The youngest made a signal to Hansol who nodded and returned to the door to make sure there were no other gang members nearby, meanwhile Chan hid himself behind pillars and bundles of car parts and started taking pictures, making sure both the man’s face and the objects that were missing according to Seungkwan’s list were clearly visible.

Once he had taken enough pictures, Chan spent a short moment observing the man, who seemed different to the other thugs that had left the garage before. Everything about him spoke of a higher rank inside of the gang, from his clothes to his solemn expression as he examined the objects; hopefully, if he was some high ranking member, the pictures he had taken would help to arrest him and dismantle the gang.

He went back to Hansol and then both of them returned to the van, where Minghao had been surveilling the situation. A call was enough to tell Mingyu that the mission had been completed and that he could now abandon the truck, a promise of Wonwoo going to pick him up over there.

“Good job today guys, let’s go pick Seungkwan up and head back to our headquarters.” Minghao said, taking the wheel himself. He wasn’t the best driver but at least they made it alive.

**21:32**

“Mr. Kim, welcome.” Jisoo said from his place on the couch as he followed the client with his eyes until he was sat in front of him. “I’m glad you could come by so quickly.”

“Yeah, well…” He seemed somewhat uncertain being there, but still took a seat and waited patiently for the news.

“Here’s the evidence you asked us for, as you suspected, your employees were aiding in the robbing of your store, we located the place they use for storage as well, so you might be able to recover your belongings if you act quickly enough.” Seungkwan put a folder on the small table, which was full with pictures and a detailed report of the case.

The man took a moment to examine all of the information and evidence before closing the folder and sighing, he seemed somewhat disappointed although the suspicion had been there since the moment he had asked for a private investigation to be done. He pulled an envelope from the inside of a bag he had been carrying and placed it on the table, Jisoo grabbed it and gave it to Mingyu.

“Well then, that’s the other half of the payment, thank you very much for your hard work.” The client thanked them and stood up, followed by Jisoo who guided him towards the exit.

“It was a pleasure working with you sir.” They parted ways at the entrance and Jisoo returned with the others, who were counting the money.

“Nothing’s missing, we’re good.” Woozi said after he had finished counting.

“Good job today, let’s take a well deserved rest.” Mingyu added, patting Chan on the back and leaving the room.

**22:05**

Chan stood outside the base, in the small interior courtyard full of overgrown plants and grass and a single, told tree right in the middle of it. He was thinking about the mission he had just taken part in, thinking about the offer of joining Kerátion and helping the others put an end to suffering, and thinking about Jungwoo and how his life had been cut short so cruelly. Seungcheol walked out to the courtyard and joined him, getting his attention by tapping on his shoulder.

“Hey.” Seungcheol said as a greeting. “Heard you finished your first mission today, a complete success, congrats. How was it?”

“It was very interesting, I didn’t really know there was a job like this one, it felt… nice.” It probably wasn’t the best description of it, but Seungcheol accepted it with a nod. They stayed in silence for a long while, both of them just observing the tree in the middle of the courtyard as its leaves moved along with the wind.

“Did you know?” Seungcheol asked while leaning softly on the carob tree that grew on the back of their base.“ Kerátion means carob seed.   
  
Chan looked at him and then at the tree without understanding, he watched as the older man grabbed one of the vines full of seeds and opened it up.   
  
"These seeds were used to weight gems and jewels in the past; they are the origin of the carat.” He explained, dropping all of the seeds except one. He pulled out a lighter. “If you burn them…” He kneeled down and lighted the seed, placing it on the floor and watching it burn very slowly. “They’ll still be strong and able to germinate.” He put the fire out and stood up. “Just like us.”   
  
Chan looked at the burnt seed and made a decision, he took Seungcheol’s hand and they entered the house together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to talk to/yell at me on my Tumblr [@not-majestic-bluenicorn.tumblr.com](https://not-majestic-bluenicorn.tumblr.com) and on my Twitter [@soft_bluenicorn!](https://www.twitter.com/soft_bluenicorn) I had a Curious Cat but I eliminated it but I'll probably make one again soon!


	6. An announcement and an apology

Hello dear readers of mine. I come here with an announcement and a deep apology.

First of all, no, I'm not abandoning any of my fanfics, but I have to make a choice. My life has gotten too busy for me to handle and sadly I have to choose my responsibilities over the things I love, which is writing. However I do not want to give it up so I'm planning to do a dynamic. I tried to join NaNoWriMo this year but I failed miserably cause November is the busiest month of the semester, however I realized I'm able to write around a chapter in just a couple of hours perfectly fine so I decided I want to try doing something for December.

This is what I want to do: I want you to vote for the fanfic you want me to work on, and for the whole month of December I will be working non-stop on it, trying to put out a chapter every day if possible, with the intention of finishing the fanfic in December and making it a little less heavy for me. I know this is really unfair and I feel extreme sorry about this, but I just can't, I really tried but it's just too hard, and I understand now I was too ambitious.

I truly hope this won't upset too many of you guys and that you continue reading my fics in the future, I can understand if you don't. Again, my deepest apologies.

Here’s the link for the poll: [link](https://twitter.com/soft_bluenicorn/status/1067844114811633665?s=21)

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to talk to/yell at me on my Tumblr [@not-majestic-bluenicorn.tumblr.com](http://not-majestic-bluenicorn.tumblr.com) and on my Twitter [@soft_bluenicorn](http://www.twitter.com/soft_bluenicorn)!


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